China Telecom continued its strong run in the wireless market, acquiring around 1.45 million new subscribers in the 3G circle. This is for the fifth consecutive month that China Telecom has improved in subscriber additions after struggling in the sector since December last year. However, it has still failed to keep pace with competitors China Unicom and China Mobile.

China Mobile’s aggressive network expansion and consistent 3G and 4G subscriber adds has been weighing in on China Telecom. Moreover, China Mobile’s iPhone deal with Apple Inc. has increased its popularity in the wireless market. As a result, China Telecom lost more than 5.5 million 2G and 3G subscribers in the last seven months and shares were down to 14.2%. On the other hand, China Mobile’s share value increased to 62.5% while China Unicom’s went up to 23.3%.

The Chinese government gave China Telecom a trial license to set up a 4G network, which has worked significantly for the state-owned telecommunication company. There are hopes of it being able to revive its waning consumer base in the China wireless market. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has permitted China Telecom to extend its 4G trial to 24 more cities including Guangzhou and Beijing, making it a total of 40 cities under the 4G network coverage. This is sure to strengthen its subscriber additions base.

In addition to this, a network joint venture with three of the leading Chinese Telecom service providers has finally reached an agreement. The venture, called China Communications Facilities Services Corporation Limited, will be establishing the country’s first joint network infrastructure. This move is expected to boost China Telecom’s performance to some extent.